Protect Democracy, Jacobson Lawyers Group, and Key Education Stakeholders including National Center for Learning Disabilities file suit against the Office of Management and Budget

Led by the National Center for Learning Disabilities, key education stakeholders filed a suit against the Office of Management and Budget to ensure students, schools, and education organizations across the country are able to receive hundreds of millions of dollars of funding appropriated by Congress

WASHINGTON, DC — June 30, 2026 — Protect Democracy and Jacobson Lawyers Group today filed suit on behalf of the National Center for Learning Disabilities, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, and other stakeholders challenging actions by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), OMB Director Russell Vought, the Department of Education, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, and Acting Director of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Matthew Soldner that have prevented hundreds of millions of dollars appropriated by Congress for education research, statistics, and technical-assistance programs from being spent on their intended purposes.

The Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse. When Congress appropriates funds and directs that they be used for particular programs, the executive branch must faithfully execute those laws. It cannot simply cancel spending that Congress has passed by law.

For NCLD, this case is about more than the federal budget process. Students with disabilities deserve equitable access to the opportunities, services, and support federal investments are intended to provide. Funding for education research and technical assistance is not optional. It helps build the knowledge and tools needed to remove barriers and improve student outcomes.

Congress has repeatedly funded the IES and the Comprehensive Centers program, which supports education research, data collection, program evaluation, and assistance to states and school districts. The consequences of withholding these funds are real. Every dollar delayed or withheld reduces the research, data, tools, and technical assistance available to educators and education leaders. When states and school districts lose access to those resources, the effects reach classrooms and families: schools have less support to implement effective practices, policymakers have less reliable evidence to guide their decisions, and families face greater barriers to securing the support their children need. Yet OMB has withheld substantial portions of those appropriated funds through apportionment decisions that have delayed the Department of Education from obligating or spending them.

This lawsuit alleges that these actions violate the Appropriations laws, the Antideficiency Act and the constitutional separation of powers. It seeks to ensure that congressionally appropriated funds are made available and obligated as required by law and that mandatory education programs can operate as Congress directed.

At stake is the fundamental constitutional principle of checks and balances: Congress decides how federal money is spent. The executive branch cannot rewrite those decisions by refusing to release funds that Congress has appropriated.

Quotes available for publication:

“Time after time OMB has tried to evade accountability for withholding education research funds appropriated by Congress, this case seeks a way to end those unlawful abuses of the apportionment process, and ensure OMB does not hold up these and future education research funds,” Cerin Lindgrensavage, Counsel at Protect Democracy said.

This case is about a simple but fundamental principle: Congress gets to decide how federal funds are spent, and the Executive Branch must carry out Congress’s will,”, said Dan Jacobson,

“Congress appropriated these funds, and they must be apportioned and made available as Congress intended, so critical research and data for children with disabilities can continue without disruption. Every day of delay puts that essential work at risk,” said Dr. Jacqueline Rodriguez, Chief Executive Officer at the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

“The OMB has repeatedly shown a complete disregard and even contempt for public education and the future of our children. This research is crucial for educators to fulfill our calling of providing the best education we can to our students. On behalf of the 117,000 educators of the MTA, I demand the OMB respect the law and allow this critical research to continue,” said Max Page, President of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.